“When design goes from good to great,
suddenly the creator becomes invisible.”

Ricardo Álvarez-Díaz is the Co-Founder, Director of Design & Chairman of the Board of Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón® | Architecture & Interior Design. Recently chosen as one of the Best 300 Architecture firms in the US by Architectural Record, his firm is now a Case Study for the London Business School and has been recognized with numerous local and international design awards for its work in the United States, Central America, South America, and the Middle East. 

Álvarez-Díaz began his professional career in New York, working for the renowned architect Robert A.M. Stern. He studied in Italy and the United States at the University of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture and studied Finance and Real Estate at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.  In 2022, the architect was elevated as a member of the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, distinguished for his contributions to architecture and society.

He has taught at the School of Architecture of the University of Puerto Rico, University of Notre Dame and the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico and has lectured in the United States, England, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico on architecture, entrepreneurship, and urban design issues. In addition, he has contributed to several outlets including Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, Fox News, Architecture Magazine, The Architect Newspaper, Nexus, Bloomberg, Ocean Drive, Interiors and Sources, Green Building & Design, Interior Design, and NBC among others.

Álvarez-Díaz is also an author and editor. His latest book “My Santurce: Past and Future” was published in 2022. He also served as a section editor in New York for The Classicist Journal. In 2017, he and his wife published the firm's first monograph called Places of Purpose.

As an expert on design and construction issues, Álvarez-Díaz has actively participated in several boards and advisory panels. He co-led the team that developed the resilient design guides for multifamily and single-family housing development for Puerto Rico in collaboration with Enterprise Communities.  He is also a commissioner of the ReImagina Puerto Rico Report, in collaboration with CNE, 100 Resilient Cities, and the Rockefeller Foundation; and is one of the co-founders and collaborators of ResilientSee, a global alliance committed to the design and reconstruction of a resilient and sustainable Puerto Rico. Most recently, Ricardo was appointed a member of the MHN (Multi-Housing News) Executive Council, where he exchanges ideas and provides meaningful solutions and awareness on insightful topics relating to trending multifamily concerns. He is also part of the Advisory Council of the UNA-USA PR, where he is committed to strengthening the United Nations systems, promoting and advancing the UN’s mission to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

From 2015 to 2017 he served as the President of Puerto Rico’s Builders Association. In 2017, Álvarez-Díaz was appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico as a member of the Board of Directors of Invest Puerto Rico, as well as Chair of the Governor’s Construction and Housing Advisory Committee. In 2017, he was appointed by the PR Secretary of State as a liaison between the private sector and the Federal Government (FEMA) on critical infrastructure, construction, and housing issues. In 2018, he was also appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico as a member of the Board of Directors of the ENLACE Project Corporation of the Caño Martín Peña. In 2020 he was appointed as a member of the Board of Advisors at the University of Notre Dame’s Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, an organization dedicated to educating and inspiring the next generation of real estate professionals. He was also recently appointed as a Real Estate Program Fellow at the University of Notre Dame for his contributions to the University’s educational objectives. In 2015, he served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Architecture of Puerto Rico. Recently, he was appointed as a member of the Board of Advisors at the University of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture.

Álvarez-Díaz also currently serves as Founder and Co-Chair of the local chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and as a ULI Governor. He served as Local Chair of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and has participated in several boards at institutions both in the United States and in Puerto Rico, including Habitat for Humanity, Guayacán Endowment Fund, Foundation for Puerto Rico, Ponce Art Museum, Protechos, Juntos por Puerto Rico, Saint John’s School and PR Center for Social Concerns.

Álvarez-Díaz is licensed to practice architecture in Florida, Indiana, New York, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.